@greenroofer - I might have been than the mudguard on my towing bike didn't go far enough down to protect the passenger.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
Calling cycling families - want to show off your bikes? PLUS buy/sell
(159 posts)- Started 9 years ago by sallyhinch
- Latest reply from weezee
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Posted 8 years ago #
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@greenroofer - I did think about hats, but some people will want to wear helmets making hats impractical (actually there are remarkably few helmets on the adults in that flickr set but some of the demoers did come with them).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Surely if the demoers are doing their job properly they won't need helmets because they won't be riding bikes...
(although given that a large part of the [very enjoyable] morning seemed to involve people who already had very good child carrying solutions playing on other people's child carrying solutions, I can see that my logic is open to challenge).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Just to share our experience, we've had the Urban Arrow electric-assist for 18 months now and it would probably be the best 'quality-of-life' decision we've made for our family. We first got the idea from the family who owns the Bakfiets, and like us, have twins. The problem with twins is that they are the same size and can't be staggered onto seats and tag-alongs. We knew that once we got into doing the school run and other activities we'd be spending a lot of time on buses or on foot ferrying them about. At some point we would have been considering car ownership.
Pros
(These are only a selection)
Can seat two children side-by-side (or three with extra bench) up to 7/8 years old comfortably. Probably even older than that if they face each other with extra bench.
Can fit full shop and children at the same time.
The electric assist means hill-starts, getting off promptly from lights etc. are easy. It also means that as my fitness fluctuates, or even if I'm having an 'under the weather' day, I can still ride it and just pump up the power if necessary.
Cons
Not cheap (but our argument was not to price it as you would a bike but as an alternative to running a car for a couple of years - not even including purchase price)
Storage - it's long and heavy. Lifting up any kind of steps is not really doable. Manoeuvrability in tight spaces is limited. We got bike insurance which, in the small print, required 'indoor, locked to fixed point' storage but when we spoke to them, outdoor to a fixed point and under motorbike cover was sufficient. We've not had any great difficulty finding parking space around town, just may need to walk a little further to get to a cycle rack where we don't block the pavement.
Once in motion, it's a very steady ride (apart from a few, ahem, foolhardy incidents on ice before we got studded tyres), but controlling on slopes/corners it while walking can be tricky. I believe the newer model's battery has walk-assist mode which should help. I've only ever misjudged walking it while mounting a pavement or a turn twice and in the tumble the children have bounced their helmets together and remained otherwise unscathed.
Although it's not that much wider than a wide-handled bike, the box and the length makes filtering through traffic not really possible. Corners also need to be taken at a wider angle but it is usually just a matter of getting used to it.
Locking it up takes a while.
Also, lots of people talk to you (that would be a con if you don't like that).Posted 8 years ago # -
So we had a great time, showing our bikes and seats.
We were also looking at future options, having had a testride of the Helios I think that I've convinced Mrs F - and I think that LaidBack may be getting a visit from us in another year or so...
Our current setup is the Yepp Mini front seat and the Yepp Maxi rear seat attached toy our Cortina Roots Transport and a Riddgeback.
I take both children to the childminder with these seats, and they work really well. I've not found that they get in the way of pedalling.
In general seats are a great way of getting children onto bikes for a relatively small amount of money.
Yepp Mini:
Quick to add or remove from the bike. Officially used from 9 months to 3 years (but actually we've been usijng in from 6 months (9-15kg) - But the baby needs to be able to sit up well.
Position wise I've found that the Yepp Mini doesn't get in the way of my knees and sits out the way. I've discovered that the front postition has the advantage of making it really easy to communicate with and talk to children in the front. But they are really exposed to the weather, this can be mitigated with a windscreen addon. But this doesn't move between bikes easily.
The rear seat can either fit onto a rack using a special rack adapter or onto the stem. The Yepp rear seat is rather from 9 - 22 kg (9 months till 6 years). As others have said, the rear is feels very detached, but otherwise is a good options.
Posted 8 years ago # -
This was a great event, but I'm really sorry not to have been able to stay for the whole time. I managed to show a few folk the Chariot, but it seems I missed quite a few curious families. I am very happy to demonstrate it at any point to anyone or lend it out to anyone who is interested.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Drat, wish I'd noticed this before! Anyone had any experience of the "follow me tandem"? Mini Smudge is about to get an Islabike Cnoc 14 and I like the idea of being able to easily connect/disconnect...
Posted 8 years ago # -
Update on trailers in use -
Posted 8 years ago # -
@Smudge, I was victorious in an online bidding war yesterday on a FollowMe. I'll have to buy separate nuts to attach it to my hub geared bike, but I'll let you know how I get on when we're up and running.
Posted 8 years ago #
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